Department of Health

Charges for NHS Prescriptions, Dental treatment, and Wigs and Fabric Supports

lord o'shaughnessy: My hon. Friend the Minister of State (Philip Dunne) has made the following written statement:As at the start of previous financial years, regulations will today be laid before Parliament to increase certain National Health Service charges in England from 1 April 2017.The prescription charge will increase by 20 pence from £8.40 to £8.60 for each medicine or appliance dispensed. To ensure that those with the greatest need, including patients with long-term conditions, are protected we have frozen the cost of the prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) for another year. The 3 month PPC remains at £29.10 and the cost of the annual PPC will stay at £104, allowing unlimited prescriptions within a specified time period. Taken together, this means prescription charges are expected to rise broadly in line with inflation.Existing arrangements for prescription charge exemptions will remain in place, principally covering those with certain medical conditions like cancer, epilepsy and diabetes, pregnant women and new mothers, children under 16 and anyone over 60, and those on a low income.As part of a two year settlement announced last year, the patient charges for NHS dental care in 2017/18 will be as follows:a band one course of treatment and urgent treatment will increase by 90p from £19.70 to £20.60;a band two course of treatment will increase by £2.40 from £53.90 to £56.30a band three course of treatment will increase by £10.60 from £233.70 to £244.30.The maximum band three charge is for the approximately 5 per cent of treatments that include items such as crowns or bridges.Charges for wigs and fabric supports will rise in line with inflation.Full details of the revised charges for 2017-18 are attached.



Charges
(PDF Document, 86.89 KB)





This statement has also been made in the House of Commons: 
HCWS539

Home Office

Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules

baroness williams of trafford: My hon Friend the Minister of State for Immigration (Robert Goodwill) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:My rt hon Friend the Home Secretary is today laying before the House a Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules [HC 1078].The changes include a new requirement that individuals over the age of 18, who are applying for entry clearance under the Tier 2 General route to work in education, health and social care sectors must provide a criminal record certificate from any country in which they have lived for 12 months or more in the previous ten years. This requirement will also apply to the partner of the applicant and a partner applying to join existing Tier 2 migrant in one of these work sectors.This is the second stage in a phased implementation of the requirement. It currently applies to individuals over 18 applying for entry clearance under Tier 1 to come to the UK as entrepreneurs or investors, and their adult dependents. The Home Office will continue to monitor implementation with a view to extending the requirement to other migrants in the future.On 24 March 2016 the Government announced two phases of reforms to Tier 2, following a review by the independent Migration Advisory Committee. The first phase was implemented on 24 November and the changes being laid today implement the second phase of the announced reforms. The changes also update the codes of practice relating to skilled workers, and make other minor updates to the rules for work routes.Further changes are being made to amend or clarify other provisions in the Immigration Rules.


This statement has also been made in the House of Commons: 
HCWS542

Disclosure and Barring Service Annual Report 2015 - 2016

baroness williams of trafford: My hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism (Sarah Newton) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:The 2015-16 Annual Report and Accounts for the Disclosure and Barring Service (HC 451) is being laid before the House today and published on www.gov.uk. Copies will be available in the Vote Office.


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HCWS541

Security Industry Authority Annual Report and Accounts 2015/16

baroness williams of trafford: My rt hon Friend the Minister of State for Fire and Policing (Brandon Lewis) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:The 2015-16 Annual Report and Accounts for the Security Industry Authority [HC 1088] are being laid before the House today and published on www.gov.uk. Copies will be available in the Vote Office.


This statement has also been made in the House of Commons: 
HCWS540

Department for Communities and Local Government

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets

lord bourne of aberystwyth: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Sajid Javid) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.On 17 December 2014, my predecessor, the then-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, issued specific, targeted Directions to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets using his powers under Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999.At that time a team of Commissioners was appointed to exercise specific functions of the Authority. Although initially progress was slow, more recently I have been pleased to return selected functions back to the Council. I am now considering the overall progress of the Council in anticipation of these Directions ending on 31 March of this year.In line with the Council’s own expectations, I am considering withdrawing the three Commissioners from the Borough and, in support of the recent progress made by the Council, maintaining an oversight role through a new general Direction. The new Direction allows for continued oversight of electoral administration. The Government has invited expressions of interest from local authorities on piloting the use of ID in polling stations in the 2018 local elections. As part of wider steps to strengthen electoral integrity in the Borough, I would welcome Tower Hamlets’ participation.I have received assurances from the Mayor of Tower Hamlets both in his fourth six-monthly report of 20 February, and in person on 27 February, that he is confident the Council is now in a position to drive forward and deliver their own improvement agenda.This view is endorsed by the Commissioners in their report of 21 February which I have carefully considered and discussed with them on 27 February.I am minded therefore to exercise my powers under Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 to revoke the Direction of 14 December 2014, end the role of Commissioners in the Council and hand back executive functions to the Executive Mayor with the proviso that the Council delivers all outstanding actions in their Best Value Action Plan and the setting up of a Best Value Improvement Board as outlined in the Mayor’s letter of 1 March.I am minded also to direct the Council to provide quarterly reports against their Best Value Action plans for a further 18 months; and at the end of this period to carry out an independent review of delivery. As with all councils, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets must abide by the Best Value Duty.This is a significant step forward for Tower Hamlets Council – they have made considerable progress over the past few months. I am pleased that the guidance of the Commissioner Team has played such a material role in putting Tower Hamlets on the right road to allow them take on their rightful functions.I am inviting the Council to make representations on these proposals, which will be considered as part of my final decision.I am placing a copy of the documents associated with these announcements in the Library of the House and on my Department’s website. 


This statement has also been made in the House of Commons: 
HCWS543

Homelessness

lord bourne of aberystwyth: My Hon Friend the Minister for Local Government (Marcus Jones) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.At Autumn Statement 2015 the Government announced that the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP)Temporary Accommodation Management Fee would be replaced by increased funding to local authorities to give them more control and flexibility to tackle homelessness.I am pleased to inform you that we have today announced the allocations for the Department for Communities and Local Government’s new Flexible Homelessness Support Grant which will replace the DWP fee from April this year. The total funding over two years is £402 million. The details of allocations and methodology are attached.We have published the funding allocations for the grant over two years so councils will know with more certainty how much they will receive under the new system. We will announce allocations for 2019/20 during 2017/18. The funding has been allocated according to a formula which reflects relative homeless pressures, while at the same time aiming to protect local authorities which currently have high levels of Temporary Accommodation.No authority will receive an annual allocation less than we estimate they would have received under the DWP fee (assuming rising levels of demand).The new grant gives councils more control and flexibility over homelessness budgets. It forms part of the Government’s end to end approach to tackling homelessness, helping both those at risk of homelessness and those experiencing a crisis. It sits alongside other funding for homelessness, including the £315 million Homelessness Prevention funding, our recently announced £50 million homelessness prevention package and the £61million new burdens funding for Bob Blackman MP’s Homelessness Reduction Bill, which will significantly reform England’s homelessness legislation and ensure that more people get the help they need to prevent them becoming homeless.In order to manage the transition to a new funding regime carefully, we are ring-fencing the grant for two years to ensure it is spent on homelessness services.In recognition of the particular challenges faced by London boroughs, we have set aside £25 million of the funding over the next two years. Before making final decisions on the allocation of this funding we will work with the Greater London Authority and London boroughs to consider ways of helping councils to collaborate in the procurement of accommodation for homeless households.In designing the grant, we worked with local housing authorities across the country, including all London boroughs.



FHSG Methodologynote
(Word Document, 37.08 KB)




FHSG Formula explanation
(Word Document, 22.19 KB)




FHSG allocation 2 Years
(Excel SpreadSheet, 40.81 KB)





This statement has also been made in the House of Commons: 
HCWS538